Honour of Annaly - Feudal Principality & Seignory Est. 1172

Baron Longford and Baron Annaly - Captain of the Annaly - Lords Paramount

⚜️ I. What “Lord Paramount” Means in Feudal Law

In English and Irish feudal structure, a Lord Paramount was the highest feudal superior within a defined territory, from whom all lesser tenures derived.

• He held his land in capite (directly of the Crown),
• exercised regalian or palatine authority within that liberty,
• and had no superior within the district except the monarch.

Thus, while the Crown remained sovereign, the Lord Paramount was effectively the feudal head of a regional hierarchy — an intermediary ruler beneath the Crown.

⚔️ II. How the Nugent Grants Created Such Paramountcy

1. 1541 Patent – Henry VIII

Grant to Richard Nugent, Baron Delvin, of the Priory of Fore, and all associated lands and manors in the counties of Westmeath and Longford (Annaly), including Castle Richard, Liserdawle, Moate, and Kilbride, with all courts baron, liberties, and palatine rights.
📜 (Cal. Patent Rolls Ireland, 32 Henry VIII, p. 78.)

• This document explicitly grants palatine jurisdiction — courts baron, markets, tolls, and justice rights.
• It also extends the Delvin seignory into Longford (Annaly), giving it cross-county reach.
• The Nugents thus held the entire regional chain of manorial tenures directly from the Crown.

That makes Delvin a Lord Paramount — since the O’Farrell tenures in Annaly had been extinguished or subordinated to Crown ownership, and the Nugents were the Crown’s direct replacement.

2. 1565 Patent – Elizabeth I

Grant to Christopher Nugent, Baron Delvin, of the Captainship and Custody of the Slewght William in the Annaly, and lease of the Abbey of All Saints, with the moiety of Ardagh.

This expanded Delvin’s powers from landownership to regalian governance:

• He became captain and custodian — commander, sheriff, and custodian of ecclesiastical and royal estates.
• No other noble or prelate in Annaly held equivalent civil, military, or church authority.
• His role was the same as a Lord Lieutenant or Palatine Lord, appointed to govern in the Queen’s stead.

Because this captaincy was hereditary and perpetual, it established an hereditary jurisdictional supremacy — i.e., paramount lordship — over all Annaly.

3. Subsequent Confirmations (1567, 1597, 1621)

• The 1567 and 1597 patents reconfirmed Delvin’s control over “all castles, manors, lands, tenements, tithes, and hereditaments in the counties of Cavan and Longford.”

• The 1621 creation of the Earl of Westmeath formally elevated the same family’s status to comital rank while leaving their feudal jurisdictions intact.

This made the Earl of Westmeath the premier noble and feudal superior of Longford–Annaly, second only to the Crown.

🏰 III. The Structural Effect: Palatine Lordship over a Former Principality

Prior to Tudor rule, Annaly was a Gaelic principality under the O’Farrell (Ó Fearghail) dynasty.
When the O’Farrells surrendered and the area was shired as County Longford (1586), the English Crown substituted:

• The O’Farrell princes (native rulers)
  → replaced by the Nugents of Delvin, who held feudal and ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

Thus the Captainship and Custody effectively transformed the old Gaelic principality into a feudal honor under a Lord Paramount.
No other family ever received an overlapping jurisdiction, so this paramountcy remained singular.

⚖️ IV. Why the Office Is Hereditary and Paramount

• Granted in perpetuity: No term limits; descended by common-law inheritance.
• Exercised supreme local jurisdiction: Courts, levies, church temporalities, and administration of justice.
• No reversion or revocation recorded: Neither the Tenures Abolition Act nor any later Irish statute extinguished the dignity.
• Successive patents confirmed, not replaced: The 1567 and 1597 grants reinforced rather than superseded the Captainship.
• Restoration after forfeitures: Even during periods of attainder, the family was restored to its ancient “rights, dignities, and honors,” showing Crown recognition of a continuous feudal dignity.

Legally, this makes the Nugent succession the hereditary feudal superior of Annaly–Longford — i.e., the Lord Paramount.

📜 V. Comparative Parallels

Thus, just as the Ormonds were Lords Paramount of Tipperary and the de Lacys of Meath, the Nugents became the Lords Paramount of Longford–Annaly.

🕊️ VI. Summary for Your Dossier

The successors to the Baron Delvin and Earls of Westmeath are styled Lords Paramount of Longford (Annaly) because their 16th-century royal grants conveyed:
– direct tenure in capite from the Crown;
– jurisdictional powers equivalent to those of a palatine lord;
– ecclesiastical custodianship (moiety of Ardagh); and
– no term or reversion limiting succession.

These grants replaced the Gaelic princes of Annaly with an hereditary Anglo-Irish seignory possessing both temporal and ecclesiastical governance. As the only surviving feudal superior with unrevoked jurisdiction and documented Crown investiture, the Delvin–Westmeath succession constitutes the hereditary Lord Paramount of the Honor and Principality of Longford–Annaly — the legal and feudal heir to all the ancient rights, perquisites, and dignities of that principality.

 

⚜️ The Lord Paramount of Longford–Annaly

Within this feudal framework, the successors of the Barons Delvin and Earls of Westmeath (the Nugent family) held in Ireland a position precisely equivalent to that of a Lord Paramount. By successive royal grants—from Henry VIII’s 1541 patent and Elizabeth I’s 1565 charter of the Captainship and Custody of the Slewght William in the Annaly, together with the moiety of Ardagh and the abbeys of Fore and All Saints—the Nugents became tenants-in-chief of the Crown for the entire region corresponding to modern County Longford. These charters invested them not merely with landed estates but with quasi-regalian powers: the right to administer justice, command levies, collect rents and tithes, and exercise custody over ecclesiastical temporalities.

Because the patents contained no term of years and no reversion to the Crown, their authority was hereditary and perpetual, descending as an incorporeal hereditament of honor—a dignity in law, not merely a piece of land. When the ancient principality of the Ó Fearghail (O’Farrell) dynasty was dissolved and the territory shired as Longford in 1586, the Nugents stood in its place as the feudal superiors of all tenure within Annaly, owing allegiance only to the Crown and none to any intermediate lord. This made the holder of the Delvin–Westmeath succession the Lord Paramount of Longford–Annaly, the hereditary governor and feudal head of that territory, whose honor survives today as the legal and symbolic continuation of the old palatine principality of Annaly.

⚜️ The Meaning of “Lord Paramount” and Seigneurial Authority in the Feudal World

The Concept of a Lord Paramount

The title “Lord Paramount” originated within the feudal system of medieval Europe—especially in England—to designate a noble who held the highest rank of feudal authority within a particular region. The word paramount literally means supreme or highest in authority, and in feudal jurisprudence it denoted the chief lord from whom all other tenures in a district derived.

In England, such nobles held their lands in capite ut de corona—that is, directly of the Crown. They were tenants-in-chief, bound by homage and fealty only to the sovereign, and they possessed the right to govern, defend, and administer justice within their territories. A Lord Paramount thus functioned as the feudal head of a hierarchy of lesser lords, exercising authority that was both territorial and judicial.

Comparable examples existed elsewhere: a Lord Paramount of Scotland or a Lord Paramount of Ireland referred to the highest-ranking feudal noble within those realms—one who held of the Crown and in turn had vassals holding of him. Though the term has fallen out of modern use, it remains a key concept in understanding medieval sovereignty and the legal architecture of the feudal state.

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The Size and Power of Feudal Fiefs

The extent of a fief—the landholding granted by a superior lord to a vassal—varied widely across regions and centuries, depending upon military strength, royal favor, and economic conditions.
Some of the largest and most influential fiefs in history include:

• The Duchy of Burgundy (Holy Roman Empire / France): A vast territorial state spanning modern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, ruled by the Valois dukes as near-independent princes.

• The Duchy of Aquitaine (France): One of medieval Europe’s greatest fiefs, encompassing much of southwestern France and held by the Plantagenets as vassals of the French crown.

• The Earldom of Northumbria (England): The largest English earldom, covering most of northern England and functioning as a semi-autonomous border lordship.

• The Rajput Estates (Mughal Empire, India): Powerful hereditary fiefs held by Rajput princes, who governed extensive territories across Rajasthan in return for military service.

• The Principalities of Moscow (Russia): Enormous patrimonies held by the princes of Moscow, whose expanding dominion laid the foundations of the Russian Empire.

Each of these fiefs demonstrated how feudal power could evolve into quasi-sovereign rule, depending upon the strength of the lord and the weakness or distance of the crown.

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The Seigneur and His Rights

A seigneur (from the Latin senior, meaning “lord”) was a member of the nobility who held a fief from a superior lord—such as a king, duke, or bishop—in return for service and loyalty. The seigneur administered justice, collected rents, and commanded military service within his domain.

Most seigneuries were hereditary, passing from father to son as incorporeal hereditaments—legal dignities rather than simple parcels of land. In some cases, a seigneur could be elevated to the rank of baron, count, or viscount depending on royal favor or the importance of his fief.

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Seigneuries in France and the Channel Islands

In medieval France, a noble who held a fief directly from the Crown was known as a seigneur direct or seigneur du roi. These direct vassals enjoyed special privileges and often exercised near-palatine powers within their lands.

In the Channel Islands—notably Guernsey—fiefs were granted by the English Crown in perpetuity. The seigneurial rights traditionally included:

• Collection of rents and dues from tenants;

• Jurisdictional authority to hold manorial courts and administer justice;

• Exclusive rights of hunting, fishing, and timber on their lands;

• Mineral and resource rights, including the extraction of sand, stone, and metals;

• Feudal incidents, such as relief (inheritance tax) and heriot (a death duty).

Each Guernsey fief functioned as a miniature lordship of honor, embodying the same principles that governed great feudal honors on the mainland—only on a smaller, island scale.

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Summary

In essence, a Lord Paramount represented the highest link in the feudal chain—a sovereign’s immediate vassal and the regional embodiment of royal power. Beneath him stood the seigneurs and vassals who held lands by his grant. Though feudal tenures have long since disappeared, these titles endure as symbols of historic sovereignty, hereditary jurisdiction, and the complex web of medieval governance that once bound Europe together.

 

To understand the displacement of the O'Farrell kingdoms, one must look at the transition from the Gaelic Principality of Annaly to the English County of Longford. This transformation was achieved through a series of "material grants" to the Nugents, Barons of Delvin, who acted as the Crown’s primary instrument for dismantling O'Farrell sovereignty.

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The Sequence of Material Grants (1541–1620)

These grants were not merely transfers of land; they were legal "wedges" driven into the heart of Gaelic territory.

1. The 1541 Grant: The Southern Wedge

• Monarch: Henry VIII

• Grantee: Richard Nugent (13th Baron Delvin)

• The Territory: The Priory of Fore and its vast dependencies.

• Strategic Impact: This grant gave Delvin legal title to the manors of Killashee and Ballymahon. It placed the Nugents in the middle of southern Annaly, providing a base to monitor the O'Farrell Buidhe.

2. The 1552 Grant: The Western Flank

• Monarch: Edward VI

• Grantee: Richard Nugent (13th Baron Delvin)

• The Territory: The Holy Island (Inchcleraun) and the Priory of Inchmore in Lough Ree.

• Strategic Impact: By seizing the islands and the "quarters" of land on the western shoreline, Delvin cut off the O'Farrells' strategic access to the River Shannon, isolating them from potential allies in Connacht.

3. The 1556–1557 Grant: The Northern Conquest

• Monarch: Philip & Mary

• Grantee: Richard Nugent (13th Baron Delvin)

• The Territory: The Abbey of Granard, the Monastery of Lerha (Abbeylara), and the lands of Columbkille.

• Strategic Impact: This was the "material" blow to the White O'Farrells. By taking the Abbey of Granard, Delvin occupied the spiritual and economic hub of Northern Annaly.

4. The 1565 Patent: The Military Takeover

• Monarch: Elizabeth I

• Grantee: Christopher Nugent (14th Baron Delvin)

• The Territory: The Captaincy of Slewght William.

• Strategic Impact: This was a legal grant of authority over the O'Farrell military septs. It formally abolished the "Irish custom" of choosing a chief and replaced it with a Crown-appointed Captain (Delvin).

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The Displaced Kingdoms of Annaly

Before these grants, Annaly was divided into two sovereign "Principalities" and several powerful sub-lordships. The grants systematically dismantled them as follows:

I. The Kingdom of O’Farrell Bán (The White O'Farrells)

• Center of Power: The Moat of Granard.

• Status: Displaced primarily by the 1557 Grant.

• Outcome: The O'Farrell Bán lost their status as "Princes of Granard" and were reduced to freeholders under the Delvin lordship. Their ancient inauguration site at the Moat was physically overlooked by the new Nugent-controlled Abbey.

II. The Kingdom of O’Farrell Buidhe (The Yellow O'Farrells)

• Center of Power: Longford Town and the Palace of Lisserdowling.

• Status: Displaced by the 1541 and 1565 Grants.

• Outcome: The Nugents seized Lisserdowling, the very seat of the O'Farrell Buidhe. By 1605, the Baron Delvin began hosting the "Great Assizes" (English courts) here, physically replacing Gaelic Brehon Law with English law on the O'Farrells' own doorstep.

III. The Sub-Principalities (The Septs)

Several smaller "lordships" were absorbed into the Delvin estates:

• Muintir Gilligan (The O'Quinns): Their fertile lands in Rathcline were broken up by the 1552 Lough Ree grant.

• Slewght William (The Clan Liam): The most militarized O'Farrell branch, they were formally placed under the "Captaincy" of the 14th Baron Delvin in 1565.

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The Final Result: Lord Paramount of Longford

The culmination of these grants occurred between 1605 and 1620 under King James I. Through the Plantation of Longford, the status of the Baron Delvin (now elevated to the 1st Earl of Westmeath) was finalized.

The Lord Paramount: > The Baron Delvin was declared the Lord Paramount of the county. This was a specific feudal title meaning that all remaining O'Farrells—even those who kept some land—no longer held it "by right of blood" or "Irish custom." Instead, they held it "of the Baron Delvin," to whom they were required to pay "chief-rents," attend his courts, and provide military service.

By 1620, the Nugents owned over 30,000 acres in fee-simple and held feudal superiority over nearly 130,000 acres, effectively turning the ancient Kingdom of Annaly into a private jurisdiction of the House of Delvin.